Glamorous LA

Well. My first job in Los Angeles has come to an end. An early end, a mere eight days away from wrapping our final two episodes.

On Tuesday, May 1 the WGA (The Writer's Guild of America) called in a strike. Thus impacting nearly every television show and many movies.

Loot season two had completed and locked their scripts and we were filming on location for our remaining days. All of our above-the-line producers and our director assured us that we were not crossing any picket lines because the writing was complete; they stand with the WGA and we weren't breaking any by-laws. We just wanted to finish the show and they wanted to pay their crew a few more days.

However, on Friday the 5th, some protesters found our location and began picketing. The teamsters (truck and van drivers) refused to cross the picket line, which is in their contracts and is completely honorable, and we eventually called the day seven hours later.

After what I'm sure had to be many phone calls and long conversations, the studio decided that our show would "pause" for now.

It's a bitter ending for what was such an amazing show. It was my first time working as the walkie PA, in a new city, with an entirely new crew.

But it wasn't long before I felt at home on our set. We had such an amazing AD and PA department, people that I became friends with and hung with outside of work. And a crew that got along extremely well, always helpful and happy to answer questions. I was lucky that I got to stand at the DP (Director of Photography / Cinematographer) monitors so I got to take in a ton of information and learn more about their process and how they work with the Key Grip and Gaffer.

Thankfully I am as organized as I am because doing walkies is no joke. I had 145 walkies that I labeled the first day and had to distribute and track throughout the entire run of the show. This doesn't include getting new walkies for bigger days when we had more crew, and replacing walkies when they broke. I, of course, had a color-coded system, an Excel sheet, and a hard copy of my spreadsheet to keep track of everything.

This was also my first time working on a studio lot. Early on one of the other PAs showed me that you could walk from our stage back to parking through the lot. It became a routine every night when we wrapped, when it was nice and not storming outside, to walk the 20 minutes back. To walk alongside all of this film history and know that I was now working on the same lot was truly humbling.

So the infamous last paragraph - what's next? Usually, I have an answer for you. Today, unfortunately, I do not.

The strike is still happening and if rumors are to be believed, it'll be going on for some time. This means a far fewer number of productions working. Thankfully, I've built a strong network of ADs and Producers in Los Angeles, as well as in a few other states. It's all about who you know of course. So while I wait for a phone call, I'll be working on my own scripts and maybe even helping some friends out with their own short films. And hopefully, join my fellow crew members on the WGA picket line.

And now that the sun is consistently coming out, maybe I'll get to explore California a little bit more.

If I've learned anything in the past year, it's to go with the flow. I've been extremely lucky to work steadily in my field for two and a half years and to work with so many great people across so many different areas. So for now, I'll enjoy my time off and catch up on life things before the next job comes along. Because it will.